S. Giovanni in Laterano, main façade, with Palace and Scala Santa on the right (Veduta della Basilica di S. Giovanni Laterano), from "Vedute di Roma"
ca. 1749
Medium
Etching
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1937
Accession Number
37.45.3(46)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the eternal city through Giovanni Battista Piranesi's masterful etching, *S. Giovanni Laterano, main façade with Palace and Scala Santa the right*, from his series *Vedute di* (ca. 1749). This veduta captures the majestic Basilica of Saint John LateranRome's official cathedral and the pope's ecclesiastical seat—flanked by its papal palace and the iconic Scala Santa, the holy stairs to have been climbed by Christ. Piranesi, a Venetian architect-turned-printmaker, immortalized Rome's architectural wonders during the Grand Tour era, when wealthy Europeans flocked to Italy for cultural i...
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piranesi · 1720–1778
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) was an Italian printmaker, architect, and antiquarian whose visionary etchings of Rome and imaginary prisons revolutionized architectural representation and profoundly influenced both Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Piranesi stands as one of the most important printmakers of the eighteenth century, fundamentally shaping European perceptions of ancient Rome an...